The Performance of Ad Hoc Networking Protocols in Highly Mobile Environments

Ad hoc networking allows hosts to communicate without the benefit of fixed infrastructure. Adaptive routing is of paramount importance in any ad hoc network since routes can change very frequently. We present a simulation study of ad hoc routing protocols in highly volatile network. We also attempt to characterize the performance implications of different mobility models. Our results demonstrate that the mobility model has little affect on algorithm performance, but that it is important to evaluate algorithms over a wide range of volatilities.